From
its declaration of the Gujarat bandh on February 28 and the
Bharat bandh on March 1, following the Godhra tragedy, the
questionable role of the Sangh Parivar in Gujarat and the ruling
BJP’s active ‘fraternal’ support to them is clear. Within hours of the
VHP’s bandh call, on the afternoon of February 27, the BJP’s
Gujarat general secretary extended to them his party’s support.

1.2.
Following the declaration of the bandh with detailed action
plans, including steps taken to ensure police complicity, (see
chapters — State Complicity, Police Misbehaviour, Volume III), many
of the BJP’s elected representatives to the civic corporation or
Parliament, were active in leading the mobs targeting Muslims.

1.3. They
have been named in FIRs, fact-finding reports of citizens groups and
newspaper reports. (see chapter-- List of the
accused, Volume III)

1.4. The
tight control that outfits like the VHP and RSS have on the ruling BJP
in Gujarat and on the dominant partner of the National Democratic
Alliance at the Centre, has been evident for long. The Gujarat carnage
has thoroughly exposed how even the murder of innocents could be
condoned by a party, the BJP, ostensibly wedded to democracy and the
rule of law.

1.5. Most
shocking in this condonation of the Gujarat carnage, was the role of the
deputy prime minister and home minister, Shri LK Advani, whose electoral
constituency is Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. On innumerable
occasions, Shri Advani has been engaged in high praise for Shri Modi and
given him a clean chit, when he should, in fact, have been upholding the
Constitution of India. He referred to the Gujarat CM as the "best chief
minister in 50 years" and has repeatedly praised Shri Modi’s Gaurav
Yatra, which is nothing short of a celebration of the violence that
his government effectively sponsored. It is in the course of his
Gaurav Yatra that Shri Modi made some extremely offensive remarks,
describing the relief camps as "breeding centres" for Muslims, which his
government had no interest in promoting.

1.6. The
close nexus between the Modi-headed BJP government in Gujarat on the one
hand, and the RSS and VHP on the other, is apparent from the backing
that each gave to the other’s statements, including those casting
aspersions on constitutional authorities like the election commission
and the chief election commissioner (CEC).

1.7. Three
days after Shri Modi had hit out at the CEC, JM Lyngdoh, as well as the
Congress party president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, because they both happen to
be of the Christian faith, on August 23, the international general
secretary of the VHP, Shri Praveen Togadia, forcefully repeated the
charge. Describing Shri Modi as the ‘he-man’ of Gujarat, he charged
Lyngdoh with having an ‘anti-Hindu’ bias because of his decision to
defer the elections in Gujarat. After delivering a lecture on Islamic
terrorism, organised by the Indraprastha VHP at the Constitution Club in
Delhi, Shri Togadia told reporters, "There are two similarities between
Mrs Gandhi and Lyngdoh. They are both Christians and both of them don’t
want early elections in Gujarat." The CEC, he said, had also "betrayed
his anti-Hindu bias" earlier, in a lecture delivered at Mussourie in the
aftermath of the anti-Christian violence in Dangs (Gujarat) in 2000.

1.8. The
clear connection and nexus between the democratically elected BJP
government in Gujarat and outfits like the RSS and the VHP is evident
from the former’s conduct, since the carnage. Reports of the Gujarat
government’s deliberate avoidance of the arrest of at least 150 VHP,
Bajrang Dal and BJP kingpins — their names figure in the FIRs filed by
the police for directly leading the mobs who slaughtered Muslims and
indulged in bloody violence — have been confirmed by the absence of
their names in the charge-sheets.

1.9.
Although Shri Modi’s government claims to have arrested over 2,500
persons involved in the post-Godhra riots, not a single mastermind from
the VHP, BJP or Bajrang Dal named as riot perpetrators and mob leaders
in various police complaints, have been arrested. On the contrary,
police officials who have named these leadersfrom the Sangh
Parivar in the FIRs are being pressured to either drop their names
or book them under less serious charges. At least six BJP workers have
been named as the main accused in the Naroda carnage case, where over
150 Muslim men and women were massacred after girls and women were
brutalised sexually. The accused include, Shri Raju Sharma, Shri Kishan
Kurani, Shri PJ Rajput, Shri Harish Rohara, Shri Bapu Bajrang and Shri
Raju Chaubal, all identified as BJP and VHP activists. FIRs have been
lodged against the six Sangh Parivar activists under IPC 302, 395
and 143, 149 and 148 for slaughtering and rioting. However, police have
been instructed not to arrest the culprits. "It is politically incorrect
to arrest them and we are under tremendous pressure not to act against
them," said police officers. (The Indian Express, March 9, 2002).

1.10. The
Tribunal observes that in Gujarat, many cabinet ministers are
simultaneously prominent leaders of the VHP. The home minister, Shri
Gordhan Zadaphiya, is one of them. So, too, is the former revenue
minister Shri Haren Pandya, a senior VHP functionary. He has been named
by many witnesses who appeared before us, as trying to influence police
not to take action against the accused. Minister for forests, Shri
Prabhat Singh Chauhan and minister for cottage industries, Shri Narayan
Laloo Patel are also two clear examples of this.

1.11. In
Bhavnagar, which witnessed the worst communal violence in its history,
there are FIRs against Shri Om Trivedi, the city VHP president, and Shri
Mansukh Panjwani, a city BJP office bearer and former municipal
councillor. Both Shri Trivedi and Shri Panjwani are alleged to have led
mobs that set fire to over 80 Muslim-owned business establishments. They
are, however, yet to be arrested.

1.12.
Similarly, at Surendranagar, CR No. 54/2002 names six persons, who are
primary members of the BJP and VHP, for instigating riots and indulging
in mayhem. They have been charged under IPC 395, 436, 147, 148 and 149
but have not been arrested. These include district VHP in-charge, Shri
Raju Vaishnav, BJP councillor, Shri Narottam Satwara, VHP joint
secretary, Shri Dhiren Shukla, Shri Tulsibhai Ranchhod Bharwad and Shri
Devji Bharwad, (the last three being active BJP workers). Each time
chief minister Shri Modi and the union home minister and present deputy
prime minister, Shri LK Advani were questioned on this matter, they have
simply feigned ignorance. This attitude, on both their parts, amounts to
shielding the guilty.

1.13. Soon
after the Gujarat carnage, there was a nation-wide clamour for the
dismissal or resignation of the chief minister and the imposition of
President’s rule in the state. While on occasions the Prime Minister
Shri Vajpayee gave the impression of being somewhat shaken by the events
in Gujarat, it soon became evident that it was the RSS who had the final
say, when the then BJP president, Shri Jana Krishnamurthy, effectively
overruled the PM and asserted that Shri Modi’s resignation was out of
the question.

1.14. It is
clear from these associations, and the desire of the central and the
Gujarat governments to grant these outfits legitimacy, that a close and
abiding link exists between the BJP, the RSS and the VHP/BD. (Two years
ago, the Gujarat government decided that there lift the bar on
government servants from joining the RSS. The decision had to be
withdrawn following country-wide protests, including those from the
BJP’s allies in the NDA coalition at the Centre.)

1.15. On
February 27, concerned over the strident posturing related to the
campaign for building the Ram temple at Ayodhya on the site of the
demolished Babri Masjid, none less than the Prime Minister of India,
Shri Vajpayee, met with the working president of the VHP, Shri Ashok
Singhal.. At this meeting, the RSS joint general secretary who was also
present promised "to tone down the movement."

1.16. Within
days of the PM expressing some remorse over Gujarat during a visit to
the US, Shri Singhal responded (September 22): "PM Vajpayee’s statement
in the USregarding the Gujarat riots had lowered the image of
the people of Gujarat. The prime minister made a ridiculous remark in
the US that what happened in Gujarat was a matter of shame. The remark
in fact is most shameful… Gujarat is a lesson for all times to come.
Since Independence, Hindus had been victims of Muslim vandalism. Now the
Hindus of Gujarat have beamed a message that jehadi programmes
will no longer be tolerated in any part of the country. Gujarat has
served as a warning to those trying to make India a pan-Islamic nation.
There are one lakh madrassas (Islamic institutions) which are
propagating a dangerous ideology to make India Dar-ul-Islam. They are
breeding grounds for terrorists…"

1.17. The
role played by the BJP and organisations like the RSS, VHP and BD in
threatening internal peace and security in many parts of India is clear.
There is an urgent need to put a complete stop to these activities,
which are subversive of the Indian Constitution.

1.18. The
Tribunal would like to record here, the ample evidence placed before it
by expert witnesses, newspaper reports and fact-finding team reports,
documenting the aggressive tone and posturing of organisations like the
RSS, VHP and BD, especially since the BJP-dominated National Democratic
Alliance came to power at the centre. These activities and such public
posturing indicate several things:

u

The intimate
connection and the hold that these organisations have on the BJP, a
party which heads the central government today;

u The avowedly anti-constitutional thrust of their intent and
activities, whether in the matter of the construction of a temple on the
site of a demolished mosque, in the absence of a court verdict on the
matter, or on other issues;

u The series of arms training camps held all over the country, by
the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, both off-shoots of the RSS, with close
links to the BJP, since, at least, the year 2000. The Indian Arms Act,
1959, expressly prohibits the possession of arms by private parties
without licence (the only exception being security agencies). The
possession of a licence before a firearm is owned is a legal
requirement. The Bombay Police Act, which applies to Gujarat, is
similarly stringent on the question of possession of arms by citizens.
The police are empowered to demand production of a licence.
(Section 19 of the Arms Act). The exemption of the trishul (which
in fact is a sharp, three-pronged weapon, which can cause fatal injury),
from the provisions of the Arms Act, through a GR issued by the central
government, is a clever ploy to encourage the militarisation and arming
of a section of civil society by such groups. The swords that are also
freely sold at the arms training camps, along with the air guns and
rifles that are used for shooting practice, are clear pointers to the
intent of these organisations. Yet, the police in BJP-ruled states and
the BJP-led central government have turned a blind eye to such ominous
developments.

u In the specific case of the Gujarat carnage, whether on the
issue of the removal or resignation of Shri Modi from the chief
minister’s post or others, it is evident that the BJP-led ruling NDA’s
demeanour and actions have been strongly influenced by the utterings of
the RSS and its siblings, the VHP and the BD.

1.19. The
intelligence departments of three states in India — Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Rajasthan — have asked for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, on
the grounds that it is generating "terror" and spawning home–bred
terrorists. The testimony of many witnesses, from both communities, who
appeared before the Tribunal, reinforces the assessment of the state
police in Gujarat’s neighbouring states. "Many Gujaratis, Hindus and
Muslims alike, felt that the Bajrang Dal had made a business of
deliberately transforming ordinary people into terrorists. Where people
had been living peacefully, they unnecessarily spun stories about
Muslims, although, so far, Muslims had never given them any trouble.
They wondered why people were being taught things like this." (A
witness’ testimony before the Tribunal.)

2. Training

2.1. In
recent years, groups affiliated to the Sangh Parivar have been in
the ascendant country-wide, given their increased access to political
power, patronage and money. But the extent and scale of their
mobilisation in Gujarat should be a matter of grave concern for the law
and order machinery.

2.2. The
BJP’s rule in Gujarat, after its return to power in February 1998, has
been marked by frequent attacks on the religious minorities in the state
and other anti-constitutional actions that remained unchallenged. (See chapter on Build -Up in Gujarat, Volume II).

2.3.
Evidence led before the tribunal from Naroda Patiya, Naroda Gaon,
Gulberg society, Chamanpura, Gomtipur and Rakhial (all in Ahmedabad),
from Vadodara, Bharuch, Ankleshwar and from villages in Himmatnagar,
Sabarkantha, and Panchmahal district reveals that local tensions built
up after the formation of an RSS/VHP/BD unit in the area. These groups
started marshalling young Hindus, assuming an aggressive attitude,
distributing swords and trishuls and, in general, adopting a
vigilante stance against ‘impending attacks from Muslims.’

2.4. The
Tribunal has led specific and detailed evidence on the method of
mobilisation and training adopted by the VHP and Bajrang Dal from four
recruitsformer recruits. This explains the phenomenon whereby huge mobs
surfaced so promptly all over the state during the carnage. It also
explains the ability of these organisations to collect youngsters,
indoctrinated with misconceptions and with hatred in their hearts, who
were available at a signal from their leaders to commit murder, loot,
arson and rape, and defy all laws, secure in the conviction that with
the BJP in power, they would have full protection and need have no fear
of the law and order machinery.

2.5.
Reproduced here is the gist of the testimony of the four recruits/former
recruits mentioned above, which provides a clear picture of the BD’s and
the VHP’s mobilisation techniques. The enrolment fee for a new entrant
to a BD shakha (cell) is Rs. 55. Once admitted, you are expected
to attend meetings held around 8 p.m. every night, mostly on private
premises, sometimes in small temples. Secret meetings for the more
select are held once a week, later at night, around 10 p.m. Enrolment to
the shakha entitles the volunteer to a card identifying him as a
Bajrang Dal karyakarta (activist). If you help recruit 10 more
youth, you are made a ‘VHP Mantri’. You are given a trishul
the moment you enrol. You are told that trishuls were not meant
to be kept inside a temple and worshipped but to be used to protect the
Hindu faith. You are also told that the trishul should not be
used to kill one’s ‘brothers’, but to save ‘our’ religion.

2.6. At the
weekly meetings, members are told, more explicitly, that the trishuls
are to be used against Muslims whenever there was a riot or a fight. If
you killed Muslims, the organisation was there to protect you from penal
consequences. If something happened to you, the organisation was there
to take care of your family. If you did get arrested during the riots,
all you had to do was to show your Bajrang dal membership card and the
police was sure to let you go.

2.7. The
VHPMantris are assigned the responsibility of training 60-70
boys each day. What did the training involve? The training primarily
involved compiling an exhaustive list of all Muslims living in the area.
Members had to collect information about Muslim places of residence,
property, businesses, family, etc. in the locality: Who lived where, how
much they were worth, how many children they had, etc. All the
information so gathered was to be passed on in the form of a written
report that was maintained by the Mantri.

2.8. The
Tribunal notes with horror, the level of impunity that such unlawful,
armed organisations have come to enjoy in BJP-ruled Gujarat.

2.9. Apart
from the detailed account of the four recruits/former recruits to the
Bajrang Dal, other witnesses from Naroda, near Ahmedabad, and from Kheda,
Bharuch and Panchmahal districts also gave evidence before the Tribunal
about training camps being organised in their neighbourhoods. In all
these cases, an intensive training of the BD/VHP volunteers began after
September 2001. An advertisement encouraging youngsters to join the
Bajrang Dal in large numbers had appeared in the Gujarat daily,
Sandesh in August last year.

2.10. This
suggests sinister preparation and planning for the Gujarat carnage long
before the Godhra tragedy, by the Sangh Parivar affiliates, their
leaders confident of impunity from the long arm of the law since they
enjoyed the patronage of the ruling party.

2.11.
Notwithstanding the in themselves startling and brazen revelations made
by professor Keshavram Kashiram Shastri, the 96-year-old chairman of the
Gujarat unit of the VHP, in an interview to rediff.com, there is
evidently an attempt to deny past preparation and planning, intensively
so in Gujarat since last year. In the interview(see Annexures, Volume I) Shri Shastri said that the list
of shops owned by Muslims in Ahmedabad was prepared on the morning of
February 28 itself. This was in response to the allegation that shops in
Ahmedabad were looted on the basis of a list prepared by the VHP in
advance, and that the violence was not a spontaneous outburst against
the Godhra outrage. Asked why they did it, he responded, "’Karvunj
pade, karvunj pade’ (‘It had to be done, it had to be done’). We
don’t like it, but we were terribly angry. Lust and anger are blind." He
said the rioters were "kelvayela Hindu chokra" ("well-bred Hindu
boys"). The impunity with which Shri Shastri could speak with the
candour that he did in his interview on March 12, and again on March 29,
when he told the same journalist that the organisation (VHP) had been
asked to pull back, is shocking, to say the least. That the Gujarat
government has taken no action whatsoever against Shri Shastri speaks
volumes about the BJP-VHP nexus.

2.12. The
constant invocation of caste Hindu symbols, militant and aggressive
posturing, the possession of trishuls and swords and regular
weapons’ training were elements of the methodical preparation of these
cadres. Young men were told that Bajrang Dal workers should always greet
each other with ‘Jai Shri Ram!’ to identify themselves. One of
the centres used for physical training was at a theatre beyond Adalaj on
the Gandhinagar road outside Ahmedabad. While trishuls were often
distributed on payment of enrolment fees, members were asked to pay Rs.
310 for a sword. They were assured at the secret weekly training
sessions that the swords were ‘legal’. They were also told that if ever
the police found them, all they had to do was tell them that it was a
Bajrang Dal sword, and no one would say anything. Swords were sold to
the recruits quite openly and instructions on how to use them were given
at the secret meetings.

2.13. At the
advanced stage of training, the more seasoned members were told they
would have to participate in fights or riots (ladhai-jhagda,
danga-fasaad) whenever necessary. They said that, as Bajrang Dal
leaders, they would, necessarily, be the most active, but young men,
too, should always be prepared. They might be woken up in the middle of
the night and should be ready to participate. The recruits were promised
that when they participated in a riot, the organisation would pay them
double the money that they lost in regular wages. Young men were also
assured that if ever they were injured or killed during a riot, their
families would receive adequate compensation.

2.14. The
speeches at these meetings followed a basic pattern. Leaders would be
brought in to brainwash the young members against Muslims. The single
point agenda, evidence before the Tribunal has recorded, indicates that
the desire was to demonise the Muslim community as also to create an
armed cadre of young men, indoctrinated, full of hatred in their hearts,
and sufficiently trained to perpetrate the grossest forms of physical
abuse on their victims.

2.15. The
Tribunal collected concrete information about the kind of mental
training and brainwashing imparted to young men at the secret, weekly
meetings – "We were told that until now it is the Muslims who have been
harassing Hindus. ‘They have molested Hindu sisters and Hindu daughters.
In Hindi films today, all the top heroes are Muslims, but there are no
Muslim heroines. It is Muslims who are forging ahead in our country.
They don’t let their daughters out in public but they spoil our Hindu
daughters. Muslims are the ones who always use force. Our country was
once a Hindu nation. The Muslims invaded us by force, married our
mothers and our daughters and converted us to Islam.’"

2.16.
According to the witnesses, in the Bajrang Dal camps, young men are
told: "Under the pretext of prayers [namaaz], Muslims gather at 2
p.m. every day and maulvis instruct them in several activities.
They specially employ young men, pay them a salary and send them to
college to spoil Hindu girls. Muslims are involved in several such
nefarious activities." They said that they wanted to start a similar
practice amongst Hindus. That was what the secret 10 p.m. meetings were
meant for. Here the members would all band together, worship/invoke
Hanuman and prepare "to give Muslims a fitting reply." The secret
meetings – gupt shakhas — also gave special training in the use
of arms.

2.17. The
Tribunal, therefore, concludes that abundant financial resources was one
distinguishing feature of these outfits; that mercenary means are
adopted to sustain the interest and participation of young cadres, ready
to do the bidding of their hate-filled masters.

2.18. The
Tribunal records that in Gujarat, quite apart from the political
patronage and impunity from the law accorded to these outfits, there is
enough money to finance the mobilisation. The source of such funds, used
increasingly for blatantly unlawful and unconstitutional activities,
needs to be investigated.

2.19. The
Tribunal received detailed information on the Sangh Parivar’s
shakha activities all over Gujarat, from the evidence of witnesses
living in neighbourhoods where the training takes place. It should be a
matter of priority for the local police to keep a tab on such
activities, and curtail them, as they clearly disseminate hate
literature to create permanent disharmony, fissures and tensions in
Indian society and distribute arms and give arms training to pit one
religious community against another.

2.20.
Reports in credible national dailies and periodicals show that the VHP
and the Bajrang Dal have been regularly conducting arms training camps
in different parts of the country, for the last two years at least.
(See Detailed Annexures, Volume III). From the statements on record,
the objective behind these camps is evident, as are the objectives of
their organisers and the instructors who conduct them: to spread venom
against the minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, and to
prepare a band of heavily indoctrinated, well-trained youth ready at a
moment’s notice to pounce on the minorities. "We are preparing these
able-bodied persons to fight any eventuality. With the ISI spreading its
tentacles, these people are being trained to challenge the anti-Hindu
forces... It is not the gun that matters, but self-confidence." (Ved
Prakash Sachchan, joint convenor of the UP unit of the Bajrang Dal, in
an interview to The Times of India, June 13, 2001.) Such are the
declared activities at these camps. The Tribunal has on its record,
details of such arms training by these outfits in different states all
over the country.

2.21. Given
this background and the detailed evidence gathered by the Tribunal in
the course of its investigations for a fortnight in Gujarat in May 2002,
on the objectives and the kind of training given in the course of these
camps, it is clear that they are a means to poison minds and generate
hatred among Hindu youth towards other faiths and their followers. For
Indian society, the consequences of such systematic and large-scale
indoctrination and training, which is blatantly unconstitutional and
seriously threatens internal peace, cannot be overemphasised. Instead of
orienting them towards productive, creative and noble purposes,
hate-mongers from the Sangh Parivar are busy mobilising youth for
destructive activities. Anyone concerned about the health of Indian
society and its progress should be acutely disturbed by these
developments. Governments in the states and in New Delhi should view
these developments with the urgency they deserve and halt such
hate-driven mobilisation for violence.

2.22.
Testimonies recorded by the Tribunal from Vadodara showed that about 2
months prior to the Godhra incident, a big meeting (sabha) was
held at Tarsali bus stand near Vijaynagar colony. About 2-3000 people
attended. It was a meeting for people from the Bajrang Dal and was
attended by the international general secretary of the VHP, Shri Praveen
Togadia as well a religious leader whose speech was telecast on the
local television channel. The Tribunal recorded evidence that showed
objectionable and criminal statements were made and telecast. Witnesses
testified before the Tribunal saying that Hindus should not interact
with Muslims on a normal basis but should only maintain good relations
with those Muslims who have good looking wives, so that when the time
came they could do what they had to do.

2.23. In
August 2001, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal had organised a VHP Bharti
(Join VHP) programme. Nearly one lakh people marched through the
streets of Ahmedabad even though curfew was declared. This went on until
September. One of the main programmes was held at the VHP’s VanikarBhavan, Paldi. Their main avahan (call) was, "Muslim ko
nasht kar do!" ("Destroy the Muslims!") Advertisements were also
released, asking for membership.

3 Impunity from Punishment

3.1. Gross
and heinous crimes instigated or committed by the Sangh Parivar
with the connivance of the BJP-ruled state government, during the post-Godhra
carnage in Gujarat, has been matched with a celebration of the crimes
and open contempt for the rule law. On March 9, The Indian Express
reported that even before the police had apprehended or prepared
charge-sheets against the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists named in FIRs
for attacking Muslims, the VHP had a team of 50 advocates ready to
defend the killers in court. "The advocates will work in teams of five
each. What is more, a core committee was set up on Tuesday to provide
‘succour’ to families of men on the run or in judicial custody... The
VHP state wing general secretary, Jaideep Patel says, ‘These men (the
Godhra victims and those facing police action for post Godhra crimes)
have fought a religious battle. They also fought to protect Hindu lives
under attack. Not only the VHP and Bajrang Dal, the whole community
should come forward to help them’… Patel is not sure how many of his men
are already in police reports or will be named in them, but says it
‘will not be less than 3,000’, including those responsible for the
Gulberg society and Jakar Falia attacks."

3.2.
According to the same report in The Indian Express a top Bajrang
Dal functionary, Shri Harshad Gilletwala said, "Cases are being
registered against our men all across the state — Ahmedabad, Surat,
Panchmahal. Maybe some of our men may have been involved in reprisals,
being emotionally charged by the Godhra attack. But in most cases they
are being falsely implicated."

3.3.
Incidentally, Shri Gilletwala himself faces similar charges. He is named
in several cases of rioting in Ahmedabad over the last few years, the
most infamous being the 1999 Bhagyodaya restaurant case. Gilletwala and
a gang of Bajrang Dal men allegedly set fire to the restaurant in the
Satellite area and burnt alive one of its Muslim owners in July 1999.
(See chapter on Build-Up in Gujarat, Volume II)

4. Hate Speech and Hate Writing

4.1. Since
the BJP came to power in Gujarat in 1998, the parent RSS and its progeny
have been conducting a relentless hate campaign against the minorities,
which goes against the laws of the land and violates international
covenants, many of which India is a signatory to. After the Godhra
tragedy, where, in an unpardonable act, 58 passengers aboard a train
were burnt alive on February 27, the hate speeches and hate literature
has been geared to both incite and justify the gross violence against
Muslims.

4.2. The
Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of the RSS, held at Chennenahalli, near
Bangalore, from March 16-19, reflected the organisation’s role and
thinking on the Godhra and post-Godhra incidents. On the eve of the
meeting of its leaders, the RSS gave a clean chit to Shri Modi’s role
during the Gujarat carnage. Describing the violence after the Godhra
incident as a "natural reaction of Hindus",the RSS asserted that
no government could have controlled the "upsurge". While expressing the
view that the "natural reaction" (read gruesome and unprecedented
violence) was unjustifiable, the RSS spokesperson Shri MG Vaidya said,
"Whole Hindu society irrespective of caste, creed and political
affiliations, reacted violently against what had happened at Godhra." (The
Times of India, March 16.)

4.3. At the
conclusion of the conference, two days later, with over 2,000 innocent
Muslims having been brutally killed, not to mention the other
indignities heaped on the community in Gujarat, the RSS thought it fit
to lecture to Indian Muslims on their "extremist leaders" and
"Hindu-baiters". A resolution adopted at the three-day conference of the
Sangh, said: "Let Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the
goodwill of the majority." Although a few Muslim leaders interpreted ‘jihad’
as not supporting terrorism, they had not been able to influence the
extremist elements, it said. "The Sabha wants to make it clear that it
does no credit to the Muslim community to allow itself to be made pawns
in the hands of extremist leaders," the resolution added. Describing the
Godhra incident as "horrible and ghastly", the RSS delegates said it was
imperative to present things in the proper perspective. "The reaction to
the incident was spontaneous. The entire Hindu society had reacted. It
was unfortunate that a number of people died in the violence." (Shri
Vaidya quoted in The Hindu, March 18).Ten days later, the
RSS restated its position and further elucidated the advice given in
Bangalore. Shri Vaidya demanded that Muslims "re-interpret and define"
the words kafir (infidels), kufr (the philosophy of
infidels) and jihad (holy war against infidels). When asked how,
in his view, Muslims could earn the goodwill of Hindus, Vaidya said they
must condemn the activities of those who professed to carry out a "
jihad" against "idol-worshippers". He said the RSS did not consider
all Muslims terrorists, but "many terrorists happened to be Muslims" and
claimed that they were pursuing " jihad, which is an Islamic
cause". (The Indian Express, March 28). The RSS spokesperson used
the occasion to advise Christians, too."Christians should also
accept that there is salvation outside the Church, too. Nobody should
indulge in mass conversions and nobody should claim to offer a superior
spirituality."

4.4. The
attitude of the top leadership of the VHP to the post-Godhra carnage
embodied not just open support and celebration of the mass crimes, but
also the threat to repeat Gujarat’s example all over India. On March 6,
The Hindustan Times quoted the all-India vice-president of the
VHP, Shri Hareshbhai Bhatt as saying that he was proud that Hindus have
finally stirred: "For years, we have been harassed and attacked. The law
protects them and governments, including the one led by the BJP, have
appeased them." Shri Bhatt scoffed at the idea of an inquiry into the
mayhem: "Inquiry, what inquiry? An inquiry is held when an offence has
been committed. What happened at Godhra was an offence. What happened
after Godhra was a reaction... The VHP has taken a long-term decision
that all Hindus will boycott Muslims economically, financially and
socially. Muslims have to change their mindsets if they have to live
here."

4.5. Such
statements by office bearers of the VHP must not be seen in isolation.
Pre-and post-Godhra Gujarat and India is testimony to how these
statements are also translated into venomous actions against the
minorities.

4.5.1. Since
the Gujarat carnage, the working president of the VHP, Shri Ashok
Singhal, its international general secretary, Shri Praveen Togadia, and
other prominent leaders have revelled in repeated public utterances
gloating over the violence against Muslims, instigating further hatred
against them and threatening to force all Indian Muslims into refugee
camps, as in Gujarat.

4.5.2. On
September 17, the VHP’s national secretary, Shri Surendra Jain, told a
news agency that what happened in Gujarat after the Godhra killing was
"not a matter of shame but a matter of pride." He was criticising the
Prime Minister who had described the Gujarat happenings as a matter of
"national shame."

4.5.3. On
September 3, describing Gujarat as a "successful experiment," Shri
Singhal said, "Godhra happened on February 27 and the next day, 50 lakh
Hindus were on the streets. We were successful in our experiment of
raising Hindu consciousness, which will be repeated all over the country
now." The very next day, he expounded on his proposition. Shri Singhal
spoke in glowing terms of the fact that in the state of his dreams,
entire villages had been "emptied of Islam" and large numbers of Muslims
had been forced to seek the shelter of refugee camps. "People say I
praise Gujarat. Yes, I do."

At a press conference on October 11,
Shri Singhal stated, "What happened in Gujarat will happen in the whole
of the country. Hindus were not born to be cut like carrots and
radishes… the Hindukaran (Hinduisation) of the people of Gujarat
was a direct result of the ‘jehadi’ mentality of Muslims."

4.5.4. On
September 15, Shri Praveen Togadia, who has repeatedly mocked the law of
the land in recent months, (see section on Annexures, Volume I)said that Gujarat would decide the country’s politics.

4.5.5. On
August 9, the VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore demanded that Muslims
should amend certain verses (Ayaat) in the Koran.

4.5.6. On
September 9, the chief minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi,
addressing a rally in Mehsana district during his Gaurav Yatra,
said: "Relief camps are actually child-making factories. Those who keep
on multiplying the population (read Muslims) should be taught a lesson."
(The Hindu, September 10)

Shri Modi’s very offensive remarks
created a national uproar. When, following news reports, the National
Human Rights Commission demanded a copy of the taped speech of the chief
minister, the Gujarat government pretended that no such tape existed,
until Star News telecast the same. Undeterred by all this, Shri
Togadia announced at a press conference, "The VHP will distribute all
over the country one lakh copies of the cassette of Modi’s speech
delivered on September 9, to make the people aware of the double
standards of the so-called secularist parties including the Congress." (The
Deccan Herald, September 24)

4.5.7. "The
time was ripe for forming a separate army of Hindu youths who would
protect the religion from attacks by jehadis." (Praveen Togadia,
The Times of India, October 18, 2002)

4.6. The
above statements and others made at different points by influential
office bearers of the VHP and BD, jubilant over the Gujarat carnage
post-Godhra and eulogising Shri Modi as one of the three modern day
heroes of Hindus, along with Shri Singhal (for his role in the
Ramjanmabhoomi movement and demolition of the Babri Masjid) and Shiv
Sena leader, Shri Bal Thackeray (for his anti-Muslim pogrom in
1992-’93), reflect the intimate connection between them and the common
design by which they operate. They also reveal the real intent of these
organisations. Not only is the generation of animus and hatred against a
particular section celebrated and justified, there is little concern
that such an attitude militates against the country’s secular democratic
ethos. It is clear to the Tribunal from the vast evidence placed before
it that the real intent and purpose of the Sangh Parivar is the
subversion of the Constitution of India.

4.7. Quite
apart from the public statements and utterances that have been widely
publicised in the national media after the Gujarat carnage, the plethora
of hate pamphlets in circulation in Gujarat before, during and since the
carnage are testimony to the calculated use of demonising tactics, by
these outfits, to spur their cadres into action.

4.8.
Evidence in the form of the originals and translations of these
pamphlets were placed on record before the tribunal. (See section on
Annexures, Volume I).Many of these
have been in circulation, intermittently, over the past four years. But
the period between February and April, 2002 saw the proliferation of
such literature, some identifying the author, others anonymous, but all
a foul testimony to the debasing levels of hatred that the ideologues of
a ‘Hindu State’ can reduce ordinary people to. The Tribunal records with
horror, the deep-rooted conspiracy and design that is evident from a
perusal of all these pamphlets. From openly asking for a blatantly
anti-constitutional boycott of Muslim shops and establishments, there
are also exhortations to violence against Muslim women and children that
are too shocking and painful to detail here. They reveal a depth of
hatred that can be no good for the people it grips and takes hold of.
Only a sick and degenerate leadership can want the whole of Indian
society to descend to such demeaning levels of hatred whereby any excuse
is good enough to unleash bloodshed and mass violence. The Tribunal has
recorded dozens of testimonies from different parts of Gujarat that show
how in the past four years, 3-4 times a year, tens of thousands of such
pamphlets would flood Gujarati homes, thrust upon even those Hindus who
are repulsed by their contents. From February-April 2002, the
circulation of these pamphlets intensified considerably. It is
astounding that no action was initiated by any wing of the Gujarat state
intelligence or police against such hateful and incendiary writing; nor
did the judiciary take suo motu action, which it is empowered to
do. While most of the hate pamphlets are anonymous, there were at least
four for which both the VHP and BD claimed proud authorship. (See
section on Annexures, Volume I). It is a matter of profound shame
that even in these cases, no action was initiated against the errant
outfits and their office bearers.

4.9. One
such pamphlet which bears special mention here, is one that mentions,
with name and full address, a VHP office bearer as the author and
publisher of this VHP/BD pamphlet: Chinubhai N. Patel, Vishwa Hindu
Parishad Office; Vanikar Smarak Bhavan, 11 Mahalakshmi Society,
Mahalakshmi Cross Roads, Paldi, Karnavati. Tel. 6604015, 6631365 Tel.
(res.) 7454699. This pamphlet, which was in wide circulation, openly
propagated hatred against Indian Muslims:

"The terrorist and traitorous Muslims
of this country get weapons from more than 50 Muslim nations to carry
out their religious wars. They are supplied with AK-56 and AK-47 rifles,
automatic machine guns, small canons, rocket launchers and several kilos
of RDX… The entire country is sitting on a heap of weapons and heading
towards civil war and internal strife... When Pakistan attacks India,
the Muslims living here will revolt... In 1947, they only had sticks,
swords and spears but now they have modern weapons... They are plotting
to kill crores of Hindus and we will be fighting these traitorous
Muslims in every lane and by-lane of the country... If the Parliament
and the Kashmir assembly can be attacked then what safety is there for
the citizens of the country?…"

4.10. The
above-mentioned pamphlet, which was produced before the Tribunal is
nothing short of a vilification of Muslims. It is shocking that under a
constitutional, secular-democratic order, such a pamphlet was not
seized, the organisation whose views it obviously represents immediately
banned, and its office bearers, who are a grave threat to national
security, detained.

4.11.
Provocative statements by VHP office bearers and by elected
representatives in Gujarat in the immediate aftermath of the
reprehensible killing of 59 Hindus on a train in Godhra, are widely
believed to have been interpreted by VHP cadres, sympathisers and other
individuals in Gujarat as a call to violence, which led to widespread
killings throughout the state, earlier this year.

5. Communalisation of the State and
Civil Society in Gujarat

5.1.
Undeterred by the country-wide condemnation and outrage at the Gujarat
carnage, the VHP’s office bearers, especially Shri Singhal and Shri
Togadia, have been touring the country and making newspaper headlines
each day, pouring fresh vitriol against the minorities and undermining
the constitutional scheme itself. The fact that they continue to do so,
unchecked by the political executive, the law and order machinery, or by
suo motu action by the judiciary, is a sorry comment on the state
of the rule of law, or the lack of it, now prevalent in this country.

5.2. When
the country’s chief election commissioner (CEC), Shri JM Lyngdoh decided
that in the circumstances still prevailing in Gujarat, elections (free
and fair) could not be held immediately as desired by Shri Modi and his
party, both Shri Modi and Shri Togadia alleged that the CEC was a
"Christian who was taking revenge for the attack on Christians in Dangs
in 1999." This is nothing short of the denigration of a constitutional
authority on sectarian grounds.

5.3. The
agenda of these outfits for Gujarat becomes clear when you see their
unabashed proclamation of Gujarat as a "Hindu Rashtra" ("Hindu
state"). During their tour of several areas of Gujarat in May, Tribunal
members saw signboards all over the state, welcoming people to ‘Hindu
Rashtra’. "Karnavati city of this Hindu Rashtra welcomes
you," proclaims a board painted in saffron, in the heart of Ahmedabad. (Karnavati
is the VHP’s preferred name for Ahmedabad). In Chhotaudaipur, 200 km
south of Ahmedabad, the signboard on the highway is more direct. It
simply says: "Welcome to Hindu Rashtra’s Chhotaudaipur town."

5.4. These
signboards are just one part of the legacy of nearly five years of BJP
rule in Gujarat. Whenever cornered, the BJP claims it has nothing to do
with the ‘hidden agenda’ of the Sangh Parivar, but neither the
party nor the government it runs has any difficulty with their
fraternity’s open challenge to the constitutional idea of India by
Hindutva’s long cherished dream of a ‘Hindu India’.

5.5. Even
the Congress party, which returned to power in the Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) two years ago, has been reluctant to pull down these
boards, despite a directive to this effect issued recently by the new
state Congress president, Shri Shankersinh Vaghela.

6. Role of the RSS

6.1. The
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is an organisation with the
self-professed goal of India as a ‘Hindu state’. (See section below,
Historical Background of the RSS). It spawned the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad in 1964 which in turn set up the Bajrang Dal in 1986, an
aggressive militant outfit whose activities are nothing short of
criminal. The RSS’ links with the BJP are well known. In the early 50s,
when the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier avatar of the BJP,
was formed to dabble in parliamentary politics, trusted RSS
pracharaks (propagators)were ‘delegated’ to the party.
Following the failed Janata experiment of the 1970s, after the end of
Emergency rule, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh resurfaced as the Bharatiya
Janata Party, which dominates the National Democratic Alliance coalition
government at the centre today. The antecedents of both present Prime
Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, and deputy prime minister, Shri LK
Advani, are as trusted pracharaks of the RSS, loaned to the BJS
decades ago, to translate Hindutva’s ideology into a political
programme.

6.2. The
loyalties of Shri Vajpayee, Shri Advani and other senior BJP leaders
like former law minister Shri Arun Jaitley and the chief minister of
Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, to the RSS are well known and have been
established beyond any doubt.

6.3. The
role of the RSS in the build-up to Godhra (the shilapoojan in
Ayodhya on March 15) and the post-Godhra carnage is both curious and
enlightening. On March 15, the RSS gave a clean chit to the Modi-run
administration in its handling of the violence. As mentioned above in
the section on hate speech and writing, it justified the carnage as a
"natural reaction". Two days later, as also detailed in the section
above, it castigated Indian Muslims for their extremist leadership.

6.4. In
January 2002, the RSS announced that henceforth, it would hoist the
National Flag at all its shakhas on every Republic Day and
Independence Day. This is a recent phenomenon. Until now, when, as a
body, it claims the inculcating of nationalism and patriotism in every
citizen to be its primary objective, it had doggedly shunned the
national flag — a precious national symbol for any country — except on a
few occasions.

6.5. In
January 2002, the RSS convened a massive rally in Jhabua in MP state in
which an estimated 1.5 lakh Adivasis from Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan
participated. As the crow flies, Jhabua is not far from the Panchmahal
district in Gujarat. Inflammatory speeches made by the RSS chief, Shri
KS Sudarshan, and others at this rally are believed to have contributed
to the incitement of tribals to violence against Muslims in the tribal
areas of north Gujarat. From news reports, it appeared that the rally
had more to do with ‘Hinduisation’ of Adivasis and inciting them against
minorities than with anything related to the genuine welfare of the
Adivasis.

6.6. The
statements of RSS leaders made at training camps in Bihar, teaching
students that because President Shri APJ Abdul Kalam reads the Gita, "He
is a Hindu" (The Statesman, September 3), and the constant
questioning of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which upholds the
freedom of faith, are further indicative of the organisation’s
anti-constitutional thrust.

6.7. A clear
demonstration of the communal and blatantly unconstitutional manner of
functioning by the RSS was the recent campaign launched by that
organisation in Rajasthan, to draw the city’s youth into its fold by
undertaking a communal survey of the city’s population. At the end of
this campaign, the RSS hopes to have a database on every Hindu boy and
young man in the city of Jaipur. Its aim being, "To proselytise
uninitiated Hindus, and to give memberships to those who show sympathy
for the sangh." (The Hindustan Times, Jaipur August 21,
2002)). The report also pointed out that a similar survey was conducted
in Gujarat six months prior to the carnage. The Tribunal is convinced
that given the track record of this organisation and given the fact that
a large part of its mission is to engender communal feeling among
sections wherein none existed before, the activities of these outfits
need to be watched and, if necessary, curtailed.

6.8.Role
of the RSS in Indian Politics: The RSS has always expressed keen
interest and taken its own stance on what it considers to be key
national issues. Since the BJP’s assumption of power in New Delhi, this
articulation became more pronounced. Every so often, it has attempted to
issue a ‘whip’ to its parliamentary wing – the BJP. Routine political
utterances by RSS functionaries, either in approval or disapproval of
the decisions taken by the BJP-led cabinet are examples of this.

7. Historical Background: The RSS

7.1. An
investigation into the state-sponsored carnage in Gujarat would be
rudderless without an examination and understanding of the ideology and
the workings of the RSS and the VHP, the ideological fountainheads of
the Hindu right wing. The BJP, which leads the NDA government at the
centre, is merely the parliamentary expression of the sectarian ideology
of Hindutva. The Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the VHP, whose
mandate involves the use of arms, if necessary, to nurture ‘Hindu pride’
and ‘Save the Hindu Nation’.

7.2. The RSS,
the VHP and its numerous affiliates and branches are committed to an
ideology that militates against the basic principles that underpin the
Indian Constitution. The principle of equal rights to all citizens and
non-discrimination are fundamental values in the Indian Constitution. It
is clear from its ideological orientation, utterances and activities
that the Sangh Parivar — the RSS, VHP, BD, BJP and their
ideological offspring — is fundamentally opposed to the Indian
Constitution.

7.3. In his
book, We or Our Nationhood Defined, published in 1939, Shri MS
Golwalkar, the second ‘sarsanghchalak’ (head) of the RSS,
reverentially referred to by Sangh Parivar members as ‘Guru
Golwalkar’ or simply ‘Guruji’, clearly spelt out his notion of ‘cultural
nationalism’, drawing unabashed inspiration from the example of Adolph
Hitler. Through painstaking research, some scholars have unearthed
information in recent years, to establish, beyond doubt, the ideological
and organisational inspiration that RSS leaders drew from fascist Italy
and nazi Germany in the late ‘20s and ’30s. (See Detailed Annexures,
Volume III).The public utterances of
the RSS today, its constant invocation of the ‘Hindu nation’ ideal, its
consistent adversarial stance against the country’s religious
minorities, clearly establish the link between the theory
articulated by ‘Guruji’ in 1939 and the current practice of the
Sangh Parivar.

7.4. In
January 2000, the BJP-controlled Gujarat and UP governments decided to
lift the ban on government servants joining the RSS. This raised a
nation-wide outcry forcing withdrawal of the notifications, but not
before Shri Advani had paid glowing tributes to his parent organisation.
The fact that the BJP leadership would like to encourage and legitimise
such close links between the RSS and the bureaucracy is a clear
indication of the close links between the two organisations. That the
short-lived Janata experiment, post-Emergency, collapsed over the issue
of former Jana Sangh leaders’ insistence on their right to publicly
retain their relationship with the RSS (‘dual membership’) is
well-known. It is, of course, another matter that this is no longer an
issue for the other (non-BJP) political descendents of the Janata Party
who are now part of the NDA.

7.5. On
January 30, 1948, barely five months after India won her Independence
and the sub-continent was partitioned on religious lines, the
unthinkable happened — Gandhi, affectionately called the ‘Mahatma’ and
‘Father of the Nation’ was assassinated by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a
young Maharashtrian. Godse, who belonged to the extremist Hindu
Mahasabha, had, in the past, also been been member of a small voluntary
organisation, the Hindu Rashtra Dal, and, in the early 1930s, of the RSS.

7.6.
Following the assassination, the government of India treated both the
Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS as constituting a threat to law and order.
Shri Golwalkar, the RSS sarsanghchalak and Shri VG Deshpande,
general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha, were arrested, and the
government declared that no organisation preaching violence or communal
hatred would be tolerated. On February 4, 1948 the union home ministry
headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, released a communiqué announcing
that the RSS was an unlawful association; the subsequent arrest of a
number of its leaders and members reduced its activity to a minimum.

7.7. When a
few sympathisers of the RSS within the Congress initiated a move to lift
the ban, the home ministry, under Shri Patel, issued yet another
communiqué dated November 14, 1948: "The information received by the
government of India shows that the activities carried on in various
forms and ways by the people associated with the RSS tend to be
anti-national and often subversive and violent and that persistent
attempts are being made by the RSS to revive an atmosphere in the
country which was productive of such disastrous consequences in the
past."

7.8. While
rejecting all pleas from Shri Golwalkar that the RSS was a reformed
body, the communiqué continued: "He has written letters both to the
Prime Minister and the Home Minister explaining inter alia that the RSS
agrees entirely in the conception of a secular state for India and that
it accepts the National Flag of the country and requesting that the ban
imposed on the organisation in February should now be lifted. These
professions of the RSS leader are, however, quite inconsistent with the
practice of his followers and for the reasons already explained above,
the Government of India find themselves unable to advice provincial
governments to lift the ban. The Prime Minister has, therefore, declined
the interview which Mr. Golwalkar had sought."

7.9. In a
letter to Shri Golwalkar, on the ban on the RSS following Gandhiji’s
assassination, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had written: "It was not
necessary to spread poison in order to enthuse Hindus and organise for
their self-protection... As a final result of their poison, the country
had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji. The RSS
men expressed joy and distributed sweets." (From Truth Triumphs,
published by a pro-RSS publication in 1997 and distributed by Sahitya
Niketan, Hyderabad).

7.10. In
August 1948, Shri Golwalkar began a correspondence with Pandit Nehru and
Sardar Patel to have the ban against the RSS lifted. His letters to both
on September 24, 1948, harped on the ostensible danger to India from
communism, as evidenced by the "alarming happenings in Burma, Indochina,
Java and other neighbouring states." Eventually, the RSS agreed to adopt
a written constitution, maintain regular registers of members, not
admitting minors without parental permission, and working openly in the
cultural field only.

7.11 The RSS
won back its legal status on January 12, 1949. Following the demolition
of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, the union government imposed a
ban on the RSS, the VHP, BD and organisations like the Jamaat-e-Islami
and Islamic Sevak Sangh (ISS) on December 10, 1993. But the Bahri
Tribunal set up under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention ) Act,
exonerated the RSS and the ban was lifted on June 4, 1993. The ban on
the VHP, BD and the Jamaat-e-Islami was lifted subsequently.

8. The VHP and Bajrang Dal: Their
Evolution and Role

8.1. In an
RSS publication, Matrusansthas (literally, ‘mother organisations’),
on the numerous affiliates and organisations which the RSS has spawned
over the decades and which form part of the Sangh Parivar, are
included the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and the VHP. (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

8.2. The VHP
was born in 1964, when the RSS chief, Shri Golwalkar, met a select group
of sanyasis and heads of religious organisations in Mumbai with
the aim of launching a new organisation to unite all Hindu religious
sects under a single umbrella. During the first ten years of its
existence, the VHP worked largely in the north-eastern states,
proselytising against the Christian missionaries. But following the mass
conversion of Dalits to Islam in Meenakshipuram (Tamil Nadu) in 1981, it
shifted its focus and turned against Muslims. In this new phase, it
sought to enlarge and formalise the institutional links between the high
priests of Hinduism across the country. Two apex bodies were created for
this purpose – the Marg Darshak Mandal,whichmeets
once or twice annually, and the Dharam Sansad, which meets only
when needed. The Shankaracharyas, all heads of top maths, were
given a prominent role within them and most of them became closely
identified with VHP politics.

8.3. In
legal terms, the VHP was conceived of as a trust, with a 100-member
board of trustees and a 51-strong governing council. The latter body
includes only one sanyasi at present, Swami Chinmayananda. An
indication, perhaps, that the ultimate controlling power rests not with
traditional religious leaders, but with the RSS patriarchs. VHP
activists are called hitchintaks (well-wishers).

8.4. In a
relatively short span of time, the trust has developed eighteen
departments. These include the Dharma Anusthan department, which
organises kirtans and bhajans in temples. Another branch
looks after dharma prachar (missionary work) geared towards
ghar vapasi (reconversion, or literally, return to home) of
Christians and Muslims. Yet another is the Acharya Vibhag, which
trains pujaris (priests) for the VHP as well as for other non-VHP
run temples. The Parva Samanuyaya department co-ordinates common
festivals with non-VHP temple committees.

8.5. Since
the early ’80s the VHP has become politically visible with its
aggressive ‘Ramjanmabhoomi Andolan’. The declared aim was to
‘reclaim’ the ‘birthplace of Lord Ram’ in Ayodhya on which the Babri
Masjid stood and to build a Ram temple in its place. Among other things,
the campaign involved a series of national mobilisations — the Ekatma
Yajna (1983), Shri Ramjanaki Janmabhoomi Yatra (1984), other
rath yatras (1985-89), Shilapoojan and Shilanyas
ceremonies at Ayodhya (1989), and finally, Shri Advani’s rath yatra
(1990). All these, except the last one, which was organised under the
BJP banner, were conceived and organised by the VHP.

8.6. While
some of these yatras were for ‘consciousness-raising’, others
required active contributions from everyone – a brick, a rupee, or the
sale of a bottle of Ganga water in each village of the country. The
mobilisations were a means to claiming and, to an extent, creating
‘Hindu unity’ under the VHP’s auspices.

8.7. Of the
myriad texts that exist for the eclectic faith of Hinduism, it is
curious that Manusmriti and Arthashastra are treated as
central by the ideologues of Hindu Rashtra. It is interesting to
remember that the Manusmriti prescribes a rigidly stratified
caste and gender hierarchy, while the Arthashastra recommends a
police state under a single despotic head.

8.8. In
retrospect, the core concern behind the formation of the VHP was the
desire to forge ‘unity’ in a society fragmented by the rigidities of
caste. Beginning with the tribals of the north-east, VHP activities then
extended to Delhi, Karnataka, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, MP, Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, UP and Bihar. The ‘Hinduisation’ of
exploited social groups became urgent, particularly after the
Meenakshipuram incident. In UP, the VHP has been wooing the
forest-dwelling Kol tribes. The nature of the VHP’s activities among
such groups reveals that their inspiration is drawn entirely from the
RSS worldview. On paper, the VHP is engaged mainly in educational work:
setting up of libraries, yogashramas, balwadis, student hostels
and child samskar centres for the development of the knowledge of
Hindu texts and Hindu national heroes. But the central thrust – though
the VHP seldom describes it as such – is clearly the ‘conversion’ of
tribals and Dalits to Hindutva-approved forms of worship.
Raghunandan Prasad Sharma’s VHP: Aims, Activities and Achievements
advises the spread of the ‘chief religious samskaras’ among ‘vanvasis,
girijans and harijans’. Clearly these are meant to replace
existing beliefs and practices among tribals and ensure a homogenised
version of religion.

8.9. The
Bajrang Dal (See http://www.hinduunity.org/bajrangdal) looks after the
training of young boys. It calls itself by different names in different
parts of the country. In Bengal, for instance, it is known as the
Vivekananda Vahini.

8.10. The
above mentioned website describes the formation of the Bajrang Dal thus:
"Vishva Hindu Parishad decided to start ‘Ram-Janaki’ rath yatra
for awakening the society on October 1, 1984… Many elements refused to
give protection to Rath and the participants. The Holy saints
made a call to the Youths to protect ‘Rath’. Hundreds of youth
gathered in Ayodhya. They performed their duty very well. Thus Bajrang
Dal was formed with a temporary and localised objective of awakening
youth of UP, and get their involvement in Ramjanmabhoomi
movement... In 1986, the VHP decided to form Bajrang Dal in other states
and very soon Bajrang Dal was formed in other states too, as its youth
wing." (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

8.11. It is
clear from these assertions that whether it is the VHP, BD or the Durga
Vahini, perceived wrongs against a supposedly homogenous Hindu society
are played upon to whip up sentiments against India’s religious
minorities, be they artisans from Aligarh or Moradabad, peaceful
residents of Faizabad or businessmen, traders and agriculturists from
Gujarat. Implicit in their agenda is aggression against fellow Indians.

8.12. The
Durga Vahini wing of the VHP works among young girls and women.

8.13.
Centres of the BD are often located at Hanuman mandirs where they
organise weekly satsangs (prayer meetings). The BD was largely
instrumental in recruiting urban youths for the ‘kar seva’ at
Ayodhya.

8.14. The
distortion of Indian history, in a bid to project a ‘Hindu history’ of a
people who for centuries were victims of Muslim marauders and Christian
design, is at the heart of the mobilisation of these outfits. School
textbooks and every other forum of public discourse are used for this
purpose.

8.15. During
the Ramjanmabhoomi movement between 1989-1992, Sadhvi Rithambara (an
incendiary VHP protégé), frequently proclaimed an all-out war: ‘Khoon
kharaba hota hai to ek bar hone do’ ("If there has to be bloodshed,
let it happen once and for all"). The call for blood was sufficient to
instigate cadres into violence against Muslims in Meerut, Maliana,
Bhagalpur, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Jaipur, Hubli, Ahmedabad, Surat,
and Mumbai.

8.16. "Angry
Hindu! Yes. Why not? Why are Hindus in the Dock?" An RSS booklet by
that title celebrated manufactured rage as the saving grace for the
community. A Hindu Jagaran Manch leaflet from Khurja, published
during the same period, evoked the image of divine vengeance, seeking
Muslim blood, elevating Hindutva’s blood-thirst to divine desire:
"Ranchandi khali khappar liye gali gali vichar rahi hain" ("The
goddess of war is roaming the streets thirsting for blood"). The open
call for bloody revenge underpins the thinking of these organisations.

8.17.
A distinct component of the VHP strategy to evolve an ‘all-Hindu
reality’ is to mobilise Dalits to do their job so that caste Hindus can
avoid getting blood on their own hands. Thus the Valmikis (Dalits) were
deployed in communal conflicts in Nizamuddin (New Delhi) in 1983 and
during the riots in Delhi’s walled city in 1987. A more fundamental
motive seems to be the assimilation (‘Hinduisation’) of Dalits after
their ‘trial by fire’ in Ram’s name. Dalits are invited to embrace the
ideal of ‘Hindu unity’ even as discrimination against them and their
exploitation remains a harsh reality. A Harijan was thus given the great
privilege of laying the first foundation stone at the Ram temple site in
Ayodhya in 1989.

8.18. The
VHP’s promotion of the Valmiki group, in particular, is significant. It
co-ordinates with the Valmiki temple committees for its festivals and
VHP literature pays glowing tributes to Valmiki and Ravi Das as ‘Hindu’
religious leaders. The association between Valmiki and Ram is striking.
It is also significant that in Delhi, Valmiki temples abound and
constitute practically the only visible activity of the VHP among the
low caste groups. The strategy is to recruit the traditionally neglected
and exploited tribals and Valmikis to defend the high caste Hindu cause,
by glorifying them even while showing little concern for their
socio-economic status.

8.19. The
VHP and the BD have played an important role in Gujarat is recent years.
Since the BJP came back to power in 1998, these outfits have been
breaking the law with impunity, certain as they are of political
patronage from both the state and the centre. The Tribunal was presented
with abundant examples of FIRs lodged against the cadre of these outfits
in the past four years. The police, however, have launched no
investigations. (See chapter on Build-Up, Volume II)

9. Funding of RSS and its Affiliates

9.1.
Non-resident Indians (NRIs) of Gujarat have been the lifeline of finance
for Hindutva organisations.

9.2. The
Tribunal recorded evidence of the vast amounts of money at the Sangh
Parivar’s disposal, to lure cadres, pay for advertisements in the
mass media, print hate literature, hold arms training camps, distribute
trishuls in lakhs for free and even employ fully paid cadres.

9.3.
Fund-raising has become a zealous activity for the RSS and VHP, the
latter known as the World Hindu Council abroad. Evidence before us
suggests that organisations such as the Hindu Sevak Sangh (HSS), a
UK-based ‘charity’ and many such fronts in the US collect and contribute
large sums of money to these organisations.

9.4. The VHP
finances the Bajrang Dal, which remains an unregistered body, from the
money it receives as donations for charitable work.

9.5.
Evidence before the tribunal suggests that the VHP itself has floated
several organisations through which it collects funds that are in
addition to the contributions it receives from other sources.

9.6. The
most active have been VHP (USA) and VHP (UK), both of which are also
connected with other "charitable" societies in these countries.

9.7. The
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the overseas incarnation of the RSS and
the Friends of India Society International (FISI), the political
mobilisation wing of the HSS, work very closely with the India
Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) in the USA. The IDRF was set up
as a tax-exempt, non-profit organisation in 1989, under the provisions
of section 501(c)(3) of the tax code in the US. Its ostensible purpose
is to raise money for organisations in India, "assisting in rural
development, tribal welfare, and urban poor." According to its tax
returns, the IDRF raised $ 3.8 million in the year 2000, of which it
disbursed $1.7 million in "relief and development work." (From the
exemption application of the IDRF filed with the IRS in 1989 and Form
990 filed by the IDRF for the 2000 tax year). (http://www.hssworld.org/usa/wc/shakha/LosAngeles/rss_75years_files/frame.htm)

9.8.
However, a closer scrutiny of the projects that the IDRF funds, the IDRF
itself, the political affiliations of its office-bearers and of the
organisations that raise funds for it, reveals that the IDRF is closely
linked with the Sangh Parivar — the RSS/VHP/BD and BJP.

9.9.
Evidence placed before the Tribunal points to a strong link between the
IRDF and its Indian affiliate, Sewa International. On its web site and
in its literature, the IDRF lists Sewa International as ‘IDRF India’ and
Shri Shyam Parande, the general secretary of Sewa International, as the
IDRF advisor in India. And on its web site, Sewa International also
states that it is "associated with the IDRF, USA and Sewa International,
UK." (The Sewa International, UK calls itself the ‘service project’ of
Hindu Seva Sangh, UK).

9.10. From
the evidence before us, it is clear that Sewa International identifies
itself with the vision of the RSS. The organisation’s affiliation with
the RSS is further confirmed by the contents of the section entitled,
‘Experiments and Results’ on Sewa International’s web site. This section
expounds the visions of many RSS leaders (and only RSS leaders), the
various "community" activities taken on by the Sangh and the
resulting spread of Sangh philosophy in different areas. In some
of its earlier literature, the address of Sewa International is the same
as that of the RSS headquarters in Delhi.

9.11.
Sevadisha, a publication of the Seva Vibhag (Service Wing) of the
RSS also lists Sewa International as an RSS affiliate, established
primarily to mobilise international support for organisations working
within the Parivar framework: "Yet another development is the
establishment of an international organisation titled "Seva
International" which now has branches in many countries. Sewa
International will look after the interests of sewa (service)
related issues not only in the respective countries where they have
chapters but also take up ‘global’ level care of sewa (service)
work carried out under the Sangh ideology."

9.12. The
FISI and HSS have held fund-raising drives for the IDRF. Many of the
people associated with the IDRF, its founders, affiliates in India and
its officials have extensive affiliations with other Hindutva
organisations in this country, or the Sangh Parivar in India. The
IDRF’s Founders: Shri Bhishma Agnihotri, a well-known RSS ideologue and
an HSS Sanghchalak (Chief), is one of the founders of the IDRF.
Two of the IDRF’s other founders, Shri Jatinder Kumar and Shri Ram
Gehani are office-bearers of the FISI, while Shri Gehani is also
associated with the organisation ‘Overseas Friends of the BJP.’

9.13. The
Tribunal has evidence that following the earthquake last year, Sewa
Bharati, Gujarat, received a lot of funds from foreign donors as well as
the Indian government for rebuilding villages in Gujarat.

9.14. The
Tribunal has evidence which shows that money was raised by the IDRF,
through Sewa International, for five organisations belonging to the
Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in MP, Gujarat and Nagar
Haveli; the Girivasi Vanvasi Sewa Prakalp in UP and the G. Deshpande
Vanvasi Vastigrah in Maharashtra). Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is one of the
major Sangh affiliated organisations active in the tribal regions
in India. From the evidence before the Tribunal, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams
located in Bharuch, Vadodara, Kheda, Sabarkantha and Banaskantha
districts have been very active on issues that are a clear part of the
RSS agenda, as many witnesses told the Tribunal during its visit to
these areas.

9.15. Among
what the IDRF describes as its affiliates, most appear to be linked with
the vast network of organisations affiliated to the RSS. For example,
the One Teacher Schools (Ekal Vidyalays): This is a scheme started by
the VHP to indoctrinate students in remote villages (tribal villages).
Different Sangh organisations have raised money for this scheme
and helped in the administration of the schools. Some of them are the
Bharat Kalyan Pratishthan, the VHP, the Swami Vivekananda Rural
Development Society, the Friends of Tribal Society, and the Vanvasi
Kalyan Ashram — all of which have been funded by the IDRF based in the
USA. Recently, the Ekal Vidyalay Foundation has been set up as an
independent organisation, but it is still under the control of Dr. BK
Modi, the current president of VHP-Overseas.

9.16. It
appears clear from the evidence placed before us that Sewa International
is the IDRF affiliate in India, overseeing its Indian operation. In
terms of monetary reimbursements, it may be the most significant ‘sister
organisation’ of the IDRF. Sewa International is a Sangh
Parivar organisation that was set up primarily for co-ordinating the
flow of foreign contributions for Sangh projects in India. Sewa
International clearly identifies itself as a Sangh organisation
and states in its mission statement that it "is an umbrella for more
than 2,000 projects and programmes all over India" overseeing "more than
50,000 volunteers (swayamsevaks) involved in running 76 different
types of activities." A swayamsevak, which literally means a
‘volunteer’, is a term that is increasingly identified with an RSS
member, especially when used in English. This organisation’s RSS
affiliation is further confirmed by looking at the section entitled
‘Experiments and Results’ on Sewa International’s web site.

9.17. Sewa
International, UK— the counterpart of IDRF in the UK, which also raises
money for projects overseen by the Sewa International, India — is
registered under the name of HSS, UK. Lord Adam Patel, a Labour Party
peer who was a patron of this organisation, resigned from it after the
Gujarat carnage, claiming that Sewa International had "links with right
wing extremist groups blamed for provoking rioting in India." A
newspaper from the UK reported Lord Patel as saying that he had examined
Sewa International’s own records: "I am satisfied that Sewa
International is a front for controversial militant Hindu organisations
and so I have been forced to resign as one of its patrons."

9.18. In
view of the above, the Tribunal notes the lack of accountability and
transparency in the funding and running of organisations like the RSS/VHP/BD
which have been indicted even by several judicial commissions of inquiry
for their role in communal violence. Given their huge network of
affiliates, religious-developmental organisations, educational trusts,
etc. it is difficult to fathom the manner in which funds are raised, the
ostensible purpose for which they are raised and for what purposes they
are actually utilised.

9.19. In the
course of an investigation into the tax returns and assets of the VHP
under the National Front government headed by Shri VP Singh – the income
tax official, Shri Gupta had issued summons to VHP leaders, Shri Ashok
Singhal, Shri Vishnu Hari Dalmia, Mahant Nrit Gopal Das and Mahant
Paramhans to question them on the accounts submitted for the financial
year 1988-89. But using a technical loophole, the government quashed the
case within 24 hours, after senior BJP leaders threatened to withdraw
support to the government. Shri Gupta was transferred to Tamil Nadu.
Later, newspapers reported that the entire record of the IT returns
filed by the VHP was found missing.

9.20. The
Tribunal’s investigations into the Gujarat carnage reveal that free
access to funds, from abroad and India have contributed greatly to the
strength of Sangh Parivar outfits which openly conduct armed
training camps, exhort young men and women to violence and seriously
jeopardise communal amity and internal security.

9.21. To
check the spread and proliferation of hate ideology any further into the
country’s social and political life, it is imperative that the funding
sources and links of these organisations and their myriad outfits are
immediately and thoroughly investigated.

10. Indictment in Communal Crimes

10.1.
Virtually every judicial commission of inquiry officially appointed to
investigate communal riots since Independence and Partition, has
indicted organisations affiliated with or allied to the RSS/VHP/BD/BJP
combine, including the Maharashtra-based Shiv Sena, for their role in
violent crimes against India’s minorities.(See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

10.2. Yet,
the Indian state has been reluctant to prosecute those guilty of these
crimes. Such failure amounts to official complicity and shows reluctance
on the part of governments to give justice to a section of its citizens.
The Tribunal recommends that such crimes are dealt with seriously and
swiftly and punishments accorded so that the demands of internal peace,
justice and reconciliation are met.

10.3.
Through their high-pitched, ‘Who casts the first stone?’ propaganda,
Hindu majoritarian outfits seek to absolve themselves of any blame or
responsibility for the violence and bloodshed, in the public eye. Expert
evidence placed before the Tribunal shows that in conflict after
conflict, these outfits defend their actions as "justifiable retaliatory
acts by Hindus in self-defence" against attacks started by Muslims.

10.4.
However, after detailed investigations, most judicial commissions of
inquiry have concluded that Hindu communal organisations systematically
inject the poison of communalism into the atmosphere and cause
deliberate provocation to prompt a reaction from Muslims, a reaction
which is then projected as proof of Muslims having thrown the first
stone. (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

10.5. In their findings on
the Jabalpur riots of 1967, Ahmedabad (1969), Kanyakumari (1982),
Jamshedpur (1979), Ranchi (1969), Bhiwandi-Jalna, Mumbai (1970),
Tellicheri (1971), the various judicial commissions of inquiry appointed
by the appropriate state and central governments to probe into the
violence have indicted one or other member of the Sangh Parivar
and other votaries of Hindutva. That they have escaped subsequent action
is, of course, another matter. (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).
A singular exception was the anti-Sikh riots in November 1984 where the
Congress party and its then leadership must bear the blame for the
massacre of 3,000 Sikhs in the nation’s capital.